President's Message

SRS representation around the world!

April and May have been very busy months for SRS faculties and the Presidential Line, with commitments to different meetings around the world.

In April, SRS was part of the Ganga Operative Spine Course in Ganga, India, and organized a World Wide Course in association with Brazilian Spine Congress and SILACO in Rio de Janeiro. While in May, I represented SRS at EPOSNA (combined meeting of the European and North American Pediatric Orthopaedic Societies) in Barcelona and gave a presidential guest lecture during the SOSORT meeting in Lyon, France. While at the same time in Milan, SRS ran two symposia during the Global Spine Congress.

In Memoriam

Announcements

Blakemore - Ondra Wedding

On Sunday April 2, we witnessed the union of two of our own SRS members, Laurel Blakemore and Steve Ondra, in St. Augustine, Florida. Laurel and Steve’s wedding was an intimate gathering of family and friends. Their love for each other was evident to everyone present.

Pat on the Back

Jacob M. Buchowski, MD, MS

SRS would like to congratulate Jacob M. Buchowski, MD, MS, for being named a Member-at-Large of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) Board of Directors. Dr. Buchowski will serve on the AAOS Board of Directors March 2017 – March 2019.

Historians Corner

Fellowship Committee Update

Hee Kit Wong, MD
Fellowship Committee Chair

The Fellowship Committee has been busy since the Annual Meeting in Prague. We have had the pleasure of welcoming the 2017 class of 42 Candidate Members and three Associate Members to SRS. Of the 42 Candidate Members there are 17 from outside the United States and all 3 of the Associate Members are from outside the USA.

Awards and Scholarships Committee Update

Jeffrey S. Kanel, MD
Awards and Scholarships Committee Chair

The Awards and Scholarships Committee has been busy assessing and offering the majority of the awards offered by SRS. These include the Lifetime Achievement and Walter P. Blount Humanitarian Awards as well as the Edgar G. Dawson, Eduardo R. Luque, Robert B Winter, Fikry-MENA, Global Outreach Program and OrthoPediatrics fellowships/scholarships. The geographical spread of awards was truly worldwide and the applications were numerous (185) and strong.

World Wide Course Committee Update

Benny Dahl, MD, PhD, DMSci
Worldwide Course Committee Chair

The core activities under WWC consist of three types of courses: the traditional WWC course in conjunction with a national spine society meeting, Hands-on-courses and the new Current Concept Courses (CCC). A CCC is organized by the SRS/WWC in cooperation with a national or regional spine surgery society and is not held in relation to a national spine meeting, but as a stand-alone event.

Education Committee Update

Praveen V. Mummaneni, MD
Education Committee Chair

The Education Committee is responsible for the educational programs (Pre-Meeting Course, Half-Day Courses, and Lunchtime Symposia) at the Annual Meeting & Course. The feedback received from the program at the 51st Annual Meeting in Prague was reviewed and the educational programs for the 52nd Annual Meeting in Philadelphia have been planned. We thank the Education Council Chair, John Dimar, MD as well as our president, Kenneth MC Cheung, MD for their guidance with the program.

Ethics Corner

The committee publishes, in each issue of the newsletter, a case of possible ethical or professionalism dilemma and invites members to send their comments. Please send your comments to info@srs.org. The committee will collect all responses, summarize and publish them in the subsequent newsletter.

Patient Education Committee Update

Kevin M. Neal, MD
Patient Education Committee Chair

The 2017 Patient Education Committee is making progress on a variety of goals for 2017. The Committee members chose to begin work on three patient education brochures related to kyphosis: a General Kyphosis handbook, a Congenital Kyphosis handbook, and a Scheuermann’s kyphosis handbook.These will replace older brochures, and can be ordered from SRS for individual office use, or will be available on the SRS website in PDF format.

Bylaws & Policy Committee Update

Evalina L. Burger, MD
Bylaws & Policy Committee Chair

In 2016 there were no amendments to the SRS Bylaws required. During the 2016-2017 SRS year, the committee has been working with the various committee chairs to review the policies for their committee and suggest any appropriate changes for approval by the SRS Board of Directors. These changes are being reviewed by the committee and will be submitted to the Board for approval during the July Board of Directors meeting at IMAST.

Growing Spine Committee Update

Scott J. Luhmann, MD
Growing Spine Committee Chair

The inaugural educational webinar for the SRS was on December 12 on “Casting for Early-Onset Scoliosis – Why, When and How,” chaired by Drs. Robert P. Huang (Past Chair) and James O. Sanders (Chair Elect). The audio program is being transcribed, edited, and will be available in text form within the SRS E-Text available on the website. The Growing Spine Committee is now developing additional topics for future webinars.

Health Policy Committee Update

Dennis Raymond Knapp Jr, MD
Health Policy Committee Chair

The Health Policy Committee has been actively trying to accomplish the committee charges and pursue the ones that are obtainable. The committee is in the process of obtaining Proclamations from each state designating June as Scoliosis Awareness Month. To take this another step this year, we have enlisted the help of a representative from the AAOS to assist us with utilizing these proclamations to improve public awareness about scoliosis and the role of the Scoliosis Research Society.

Adult Deformity Committee Update

Ram Mudiyam, MD, MBA
Adult Deformity Committee Chair

The Adult Deformity Committee has been involved in analyzing recently conducted surveys on the role of MIS in adult spinal deformity, shared decision making in adult spinal deformity surgery, and a recent survey on rod fractures.

CME Committee Update

David H. Clements, MD
CME Committee Chair

The Continuing Medical Education (CME) Committee continues to refine the procedures and processes related to maintaining SRS’s accreditation status. SRS was granted provisional accreditation in 2012 and then full accreditation for four years in 2014. In order to be granted reaccreditation in July 2018, at the end of this year, we will be submitting our self study and other data that includes annual reports; examples of our ability to fulfill our educational mission effectively; and evidence of how SRS complies with the ACCME’s accreditation criteria, standards for commercial support, and policies.

Awards and Scholarships Committee Update

Jeffrey S. Kanel, MD
Awards and Scholarships Committee Chair

The Awards and Scholarships Committee has been busy assessing and offering the majority of the awards offered by SRS. These include the Lifetime Achievement and Walter P. Blount Humanitarian Awards as well as the Edgar G. Dawson, Eduardo R. Luque, Robert B Winter, Fikry-MENA, Global Outreach Program and OrthoPediatrics fellowships/scholarships. The geographical spread of awards was truly worldwide and the applications were numerous (185) and strong.

Please join us throughout the year in congratulating our award winners!

The SRS Traveling Fellows, under the guidance of Dr. Richard McCarthy, traveled around Europe last month. Please take a look at some of their visits on the SRS Facebook or by searching #SRSTravelingFellows on social media outlets. We look forward to hearing their report in Philadelphia at the Annual Meeting.